Wire twisting device

ABSTRACT

A device including a pair of wheel half sections having teeth on their outer peripheral edges and concentric guide races on opposite faces in which a pair of scissorslike levers engage races on opposite sides thereof through semicylindrical guide portions. A third lever has a pair of semicylindrical guides received in races on opposite sides of the wheel. Spring biased dog elements are provided on the levers for engagement with the teeth on the wheel and as the levers are worked back and forth the wheel is rotated and wires or the like extending along the diametrical center thereof are twisted by a pin carried by one of the wheel half sections and limited against movement by the other wheel half section.

United States Patent July 6, 1971 [21]. Appl No. [22] Filed [45 Patented [54 1 WIRE rwrs'r'luc mzvrcr:

Primary ExaminerLowell A. Larson Anomey-Zarley, McKee and Thomte ABSTRACT: A device including a pair of wheel half sections having teeth on their outer peripheral edges and concentric guide raceson opposite faces in which a pair of scissorslike levers engage races on opposite sides thereof through sem'icylindrical guide portions. A third lever has a pair of semicylindrical guides received in races on opposite sides of the wheel. Spring biased dog elements are provided on the levers for engagement with the teeth on the wheel and as the levers are worked back and forth the wheel is rotated and wires or the .like extending along the diametrical center thereof are twisted by a pin carried by one of the wheel half sections and limited against movement by the other wheel half section.

WIRE TWISTING DEVICE The building of fences on farms involves .brace wires that need to be twisted to provide the desired tension between end posts. At times it is only possible to work on the brace wires from one side of the fence.

The wire twisting device of this invention is capable of being opened quickly to engage the brace wires and closed therearound even though exposure to the brace wires is only from one side of the fence. By moving the twisting device handles back and forth towards and away from each other the wheel half sections rotate as a unit with the brace wires extending along the center axis of rotation and being twisted by a pin extending perpendicular to the center axis.

A scissors-type lever unit is provided for engaging the top and bottom sides of the wheel on opposite sides of the center axis thereby allowing the half sections of the wheel to be moved between and opened and closed positions as the levers of the scissors unit are moved back and forth. A guide lever is provided having guide portions on opposite sides of the wheel but on the same side of the center axis. This lever then is mored relative to the scissors lever unit back and forth to advance the wheel which engages spring-biased dogs carried on the scissors lever unit and the spring-biased dogs are arranged such that one dog holds the wheel in place while the other dog ratchets itself over the peripheral teeth on the wheel as the levers are being spread apart and when the levers are closed the wheel is rotated thereby causing twisting action on the wires extending along the wheel center axis and engaged by the twisting pin.

Thus it is seen that this invention involves basically three components, the wheel and two levers, one being the scissors lever and the other being the guide lever with each having two separate guide portions engaging the wheel in concentric races on opposite sides of the wheel. The wheel half sections are substantially identical in their construction.

These and other features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following description when taken into consideration with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the wire twisting device;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the device;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the scissors levers in their opened position with the half wheel sections spread apart to give access therebetween; and

FIG. Sis a plan view of the wheel only.

The wire twisting device of this invention is referred to generally in FIG. 1 by the reference numeral and includes a twisting wheel unit 12 having substantially identical half wheel sections 14 and 16 with teeth 18 around the periphery thereof. A scissors-type pair of levers 20 including lever arms 22 and 24 having guide portions 26 and 28 respectively engage concentric annular races 30 and 32 respectively on opposite sides of the wheel 12.

The races 32 and 30 are superimposed upon each other and are immediately adjacent a center cylindrical axial opening formed by mating semicylindrical pipe portions 36 and 38.

A wire twisting pin 40 is anchored to the semicylindrical pipe section 38 and is received in an opening 42 in the op posite semicylindrical pipe section 36 when the wheel sections 14 and 16 are in their closed position as seen in FIG. 1.

The inner races 30 and 32 are formed by the pipes semicylindrical portions 36 and 38 and semicircular guide walls 46 and 48.

A second pair of top and bottom races 50 and 52 are formed by guide walls 54 and 56 and are engaged by semicircular guide portions 60 and 62 carried on the end of a lever arm 64 and are positioned on opposite sides of the wheel 12 but on the same side of the wheel's center axis whereas the scissorstype guide portions 26 and 28 are on opposite sides of the center axis as well as on opposite sides of the wheel and thus hold the unit together when the unit is in its opened position as seen in FIG. 4.

A pair of ratchet dog elements 66 and 68 are carried on the arm 64 and the scissors unit 20 for engagement with the wheel teethl8. Each of the dog elements are biased into engagement with the teeth 18 by springs 70 and 72 anchored on finger elements 74 and '76.

It is seen in FIG. 5 that the guide race walls semicircular in shape are staggered to overlap from one wheel section to the other to help maintain the wheel sections 12 and 14 in a comrrion plane. The semicylindrical pipe sections 36 and 38 meet on the dividing line for the wheel sections while the guide walls 48 and 56 are in staggered overlapping relationship. The reverse side of the wheel as seenFlG. 5 is the mirror image thereof such that the wheel sections are substantially identical in their appearance and are interchangeable but for the wheel section 14 carrying the wire twisting pin 40 and the wheel section 16 having the pin hole 42.

When the scissor-type lever arms 22 and 24 are in their closed position as seen in FIG. 1 a stop element 78 locks the levers together at one end while the guide portions 26 and 28 are in clamping engagement with the pipe portions 36 and 38. Upon slight spreading apart of the levers 22 and 24 the lever 24 may be lifted over the stop element 78 and moved to an opened positioned as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 thereby moving the wheel half sections '14 and 16 apart to give access to the cylindrical opening 34 such that a pair of wires 80 may be placed therein or removed therefrom. When the twisting unit is in its open position of FIG. 4 the guide portion 26 is holding the wheel half section 14 while the pair of guide portions 60 and 62 along with the guide portion 28 supports the wheel half sections 16. It is noted that the wheel half sections 14 and 16 must be turned to a point where their separation line is on a line between the guide portion 26 and 28 and substantially through the pivotal axis for the lever arms 22 and 24.

Thus it is seen in operation that the unit is turned to the position of FIG. I and then the scissors levers 22 and 24 are moved to their opened position of FIG. 4 to permit access of the wires 80 into the cylindrical opening 34 and the pin 40 is then passed between the wires 80 when the wheel sections 14 and 16 are closed as seen in FIG. 1. The wheel is then rotated thereby twisting the wires upon moving the lever 64 back and forth relative to the scissors levers 20 moving as a unit. When the levers 64 and 20 are being spread apart one dog element 66 holds the wheel against rotation while the other dog 68 ratchets over the wheel teeth 18. Then when the levers 64 and 20 are moved towards each other the dog elements 66 and 68 are locked in engagement with the wheel teeth 18 and cause the wheel 12 to rotate thereby twisting the wire 80 on opposite sides of the pin 40 extending diametrically across the center tube opening 34.

Upon the wire being twisted to the desired amount the procedure is reversed including opening the wheel sections to permit separation of the pin 40 from the wires 80 and removal of the unit from the twisted wires. It is seen that the pin 40 is automatically withdrawn from the wires upon the wheel sections I4 and I6 being opened.

Further rigidness is provided in the wheel by the use of guide elements on opposite ends of the wheel half sections 14 and 16 which overlap onto the opposite wheel half section when the wheel sections are in their closed position as seen in FIG. 1.

Thus it is seen that the wire twisting device of this invention may be used on all kinds of wire twisting jobs including fencing wire wherein brace wires are twisted. The space required for operation of the device is only equal to the distance from the center axis of the wheel to the outer periphery thereof since the levers 64 and 20 may be operated from the open side of the fence.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my WIRE TWISTING DEVICE without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim: I. A wire twisting device comprising, a wheel including a pair of half sections, a pair of lever members having guide portions for engaging opposite sides of said wheel, means for locking said levers in a closed condition with said guide portions holding said half sections together as a unit, said levers adapted to be moved to an open position upon the separation line between said half sections being in the plane of the centerline between said guide portions and means for moving said half sections apart with said guide portions, means adjacent the center of said wheel for engaging wires or the like to be twisted, means for rotating said wheel, ratchet means including teeth on said wheel and actuating means on one of said levers for engaging said teeth, and a third lever having a guide portion engaging said wheel and an actuating means on said third lever for engaging said wheel, the actuation means on said one lever and said third lever holding said wheel against rotation in one direction while turning said wheel in the opposite direction upon said one lever and said third lever being moved back and forth relative to each other. 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said wheel includes a pair of concentric annular guide races in which said first, second and third lever guide portions are received.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said wheel includes a pair of annular concentric guide .races on each side of said wheel, said first and second guide portions being positioned to be received in one of said races on opposite sides of said wheel and said third lever having a pair of guide portions with said wheel received therebetween and said pair of guide portions received in said other race on opposite sides of said wheel.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said guide portions are further defined as substantially semicylindrical guide walls.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein guide fingers extend outwardly on said half sections adjacent their separation line for engagement with the oppositely disposed half section to maintain said half sections in a common plane.

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said half sections include semicylindrical portions adjacent the center axis of rotation of said wheel, and said wire engaging means being a pin carried by one of said semicylindrical portions and extending diametrically across said cylindrical opening formed therebetween and into an opening formed in said other semicylindrical portion.

7. The structure of claim 1 wherein said pair of lever members are pivotally interconnected to provide scissors clamping engagement on said wheel through said guide portions.

8. The structure of claim 1 wherein said actuation means on one of said levers and said third lever include spring means for normally biasing said actuation means into engagement with said wheel teeth. 

1. A wire twisting device comprising, a wheel including a pair of half sections, a pair of lever members having guide portions for engaging opposite sides of said wheel, means for locking said levers in a closed condition with said guide portions holding said half sections together as a unit, said levers adapted to be moved to an open position upon the separation line between said half sections being in the plane of the centerline between said guide portions and means for moving said half sections apart with said guide portions, means adjacent the center of said wheel for engaging wires or the like to be twisted, means for rotating said wheel, ratchet means including teeth on said wheel and actuating means on one of said levers for engaging said teeth, and a third lever having a guide portion engaging said wheel and an actuating means on said third lever for engaging said wheel, the actuation means on said one lever and said third lever holding said wheel against rotation in one direction while turning said wheel in the opposite direction upon said one lever and said third lever being moved back and forth relative to each other.
 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said wheel includes a pair of concentric annular guide races in which said first, second and third lever guide portions are received.
 3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said wheel includes a pair of annular concentric guide races on each side of said wheel, said first and second guide portions being positioned to be received in one of said races on opposite sides of said wheel and said third lever having a pair of guide portions with said wheel received therebetween and said pair of guide portions received in said other race on opposite sides of said wheel.
 4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said guide portions are further defined as substantially semicylindrical guide walls.
 5. The structure of claim 4 wherein guide fingers extend outwardly on said half sections adjacent their separation line for engagement with the oppositely disposed half section to maintain said half sections in a common plane.
 6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said half sections include semicylindrical portions adjacent the center axis of rotation of said wheel, and said wire engaging means being a pin carried by one of said semicylindrical portions and extending diametrically across said cylindrical opening formed therebetween and into an opening formed in said other semicylindrical portion.
 7. The structure of claim 1 wherein said pair of lever members are pivotally interconnected to provide scissors clampiNg engagement on said wheel through said guide portions.
 8. The structure of claim 1 wherein said actuation means on one of said levers and said third lever include spring means for normally biasing said actuation means into engagement with said wheel teeth. 